The Great Red Spot Probably Formed in the Early 1800s
Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) is one of the Solar System's defining features. It's a massive storm that astronomers have…
A New Way to Prove if Primordial Black Holes Contribute to Dark Matter
The early Universe was a strange place. Early in its history—in the first quintillionth of a second—the entire cosmos was…
Baby Stars are Swarming Around the Galactic Center
The vicinity of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center, is hyperactive. Stars, gas,…
Rotation Curves of Galaxies Stay Flat Indefinitely
In his classic book On the Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the philosopher Thomas Kuhn posited that, for a new scientific…
Almost a Third of Early Galaxies Were Already Spirals
In the years before the JWST's launch, astronomers' efforts to understand the early Universe were stymied by a stubborn obstacle:…
Which Stars are Lethal to their Planets?
Many years ago, there was a viral YouTube video called "History of the entire world, i guess," which has been…
Fish Could Turn Regolith into Fertile Soil on Mars
What a wonderful arguably simple solution. Here’s the problem, we travel to Mars but how do we feed ourselves? Sure…
New Simulation Explains how Supermassive Black Holes Grew so Quickly
One of the main scientific objectives of next-generation observatories (like the James Webb Space Telescope) has been to observe the…
Don't Get Your Hopes Up for Finding Liquid Water on Mars
In the coming decades, NASA and China intend to send the first crewed missions to Mars. Given the distance involved…
Webb is an Amazing Supernova Hunter
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just increased the number of known distant supernovae by tenfold. This rapid expansion…